Life and Death
by Jack Of Some Trades
Summary: When Chi-Chi stands on the edge of ending it all, an unlikely hand reaches out and pulls her back.


**__**

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I don't even own the computer I'm typing this on. I stole the disk it's saved on from my sister. Hell, I'm probably leasing these pants.

It was too much.

Too much.

After her husband died, she swore she could go on. It would be hard, she knew then, but she could do it. Of course, that was before she knew she was pregnant.

Goten was one of the best things to happen to her, really. But not too long after he was born, Chi-Chi began to start thinking about her husband again. How he left her, and Gohan, and, albeit unknowingly, Goten. She knew, intellectually, that he might come back if he knew, but then again, she wasn't sure.

Her father and Bulma helped however they could. The Ox-King would take over cooking when she felt the weight of the world on her, and Bulma kept an eye on Goten whenever Chi-Chi asked. As hesitant as she was at first to leave Goten in the company of the Prince of All Jackasses, she saw, later, that her son was safe.

They would be fine parents when she was gone.

She had it planned out, far more than she usually did things. Gohan was off visiting her father, who was more than happy to entertain his eldest grandchild. Goten was with Bulma and Vegeta, though she liked pretending Vegeta wasn't there (not particularly out of dislike for the man, but for the rivalry he held with her husband).

She was going to leap from the highest cliff she could find. It was, in her opinion, the easiest way to get it done. She'd been close before, even to the point of having a razor blade on her wrist, but cliffs were the easiest way to go about it. A cliff wasn't particularly a hard-to-find thing anymore, as the recent battles for the safety of the planet had left their scars, and cliffs didn't give you a chance to change your mind. If she remembered the stories she'd been told correctly, a cliff had for all intents and purposes made her husband the man he was, and they would bring her to him.

Chi-Chi hadn't come to this decision lightly. She knew that Goku wouldn't want this for her, and that Goten would grow up without knowing his real parents. But then, from what she'd seen of his interaction with Trunks, Goten would grow up with a better father than a non-existent one. At any rate, it was her decision, not Goku's or Goten's.

Shutting the door behind her, she began the journey to the cliff she'd chosen to make a final lover's leap. It wasn't too far from home, but just the same, she took the car. Maybe to make it easier if she lost her nerve.

~*~

"Vegeta!"

"What?"

"Take Goten home!"

"You do it, Woman! I'm busy with the Boy!"

"_Vegeta!_"

"Fine! Just stop your screeching!"

Muttering to himself, Vegeta picked up the year old Saiyan and held him so that he would still be able to fly. He walked out the door, pretending not to hear his mate yelling at him to put a coat on the boy. _As if any respectable Saiyan would fall to some weakling Earth cold,_ he thought. Besides, he'd be plenty warm in Vegeta's arms.

Despite himself, Vegeta had a small soft spot for the black-haired child looking almost frighteningly like Kakarot. Of course, he wouldn't have admitted it under even the most grueling of tortures. Perhaps it was because he knew first-hand the experience of growing up without a father. That was, after all, what brought him back to Earth.

The baby slept peacefully on the way to its home. Vegeta was glad for that, as he knew it had a tendency to play when it was in the air, and it was still too young to fly properly.

__

Hmm… the Harpy isn't home, Vegeta mused as he came to the house. _Where is she?_ He opened the door, hoping for some hint of where she might be. A note, perhaps, or a message. Nothing was there. Not even Kakarot's first brat.

Vegeta growled at no one. "If that bitch thinks I'm taking over her responsibilities for one moment longer, she's sorely mistaken," he said quietly. Goten, apparently sensing he was home, began to fuss. Vegeta ignored it and went outside to try to see if there were tracks or something that would let him to her.

__

Tire tracks, Vegeta thought, seeing the marks in the soil. They led off to the cliffs near Kakarot and his mate's home.

~*~

She was barely even looking at where the car went anymore. She only knew she was headed in the general vicinity of Death, and her love.

Miraculously, she was perfectly calm. Everything that told her to panic wasn't there, and she was almost unaware of what she was doing. Like slashing at fog, she could only see what she allowed herself to see.

Chi-Chi completely lost sense of time. Minutes seemed to drag on forever, but even then she didn't expect to arrive so quickly.

She got out of the car and looked down. _It's a long fall,_ she thought.

__

Perfect.

~*~

"I can't believe I have to chase this stupid harpy all over this Kami-forsaken dust ball just because she doesn't want to take her stupid brat…" Vegeta's muttering went along these lines as he rushed along the tire tracks. The boy had fallen asleep again as they flew towards his mother. Vegeta was tempted to just go home, but saw no point in that, since his Woman would just send him back out to find her.

As he flew, he powered up and down to pass the time. He had no idea the path was so long, and he was painfully _bored_. He briefly wondered if this was normal behaviour for the woman, and had to imagine it wasn't. The fear Kakarot's first brat seemed to have showed that quite well.

Suddenly, the tracks stopped, ending in a parked car, still running. Vegeta looked up. "Harpy, come get your brat!" he called, but she apparently didn't hear him. He could see her now, on the edge of a cliff, staring down. The Saiyan sighed impatiently and set the baby down in the car to sleep. "Harpy, I'm talking to you!"

~*~

Chi-Chi's senses were entirely ensnared in the darkness of the chasm. She gulped audibly, though she couldn't hear it, and took two steps back. Then, eyes closed, she ran straight towards the edge and jumped.

~*~

"Harpy!" The black-haired woman took two steps back, then disappeared over the edge. Eyes wide, Vegeta rushed down the gorge himself. He could barely hear himself think as the woman screamed. He grabbed her and carried her back up, setting her as far from the edge of the cliff as he could.

"What the Hell is wrong with you, Harpy?" he spat at her, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring. "You trying to get yourself killed?"

She said an answer so quiet even his senses couldn't pick it up. "What?"

"Yes. Yes, Vegeta, I was trying to kill myself."

~*~

__

Oh, Kami, I was trying to kill myself, she thought.

"Hmm," Vegeta grunted in response. "Well?"

Chi-Chi looked up at the man. "Well what?"

"You're trying to kill yourself? You want to die? Do it. I won't stop you this time. Anyone who'd kill themselves doesn't deserve to live anyway."

Chi-Chi almost laughed at the absurdity of it. Right now, she wasn't about to do it, but she knew that feeling wouldn't last long. "And why is this?" she asked, for the soul purpose of making conversation.

"Someone willing to take their own life," Vegeta said, "is either a fool or a coward. There are too many of those in the world already, and in many cases, both at once."

"How are they a fool or a coward?"

Vegeta chuckled, somewhat inappropriate for such a dark conversation. "They're fools if they think they have no reason to live. I've seen the other side, and this is infinitely better than that. They're cowards if they think life is too painful, and death is the release. Death is the easy way out, for the weak."

Chi-Chi couldn't meet Vegeta's gaze, for whatever reason. He walked over to the car and lifted the sleeping Goten from the seat. "Your brat will be safer with us anyway. If you decide you're not a cowardly fool, you know where we live."

Before flying away, Vegeta said, "Oh, and next time you decide to kill yourself or something else, leave a note. I don't feel like chasing you all over this pile of dirt."

~*~

Chi-Chi watched Vegeta fly off, her son in his arms. From a distance, she reflected, he looked like Goku.

Sighing, she stood and walked over to the cliff and looked down. She threw a rock down there and listened for it to hit bottom. It never did.

__

He's right. This is the easy way out, this is not_ Son Chi-Chi._ Silently, she walked over to her car and drove home, taking one last look at the place of her almost-demise. _To think, Vegeta of all people saved me._

~*~

"Vegeta? Why is Goten still with you?"

"Hmm. Harpy was taking a bath, and I didn't want to see that."

Bulma obviously didn't know whether to be insulted on her friend's behalf or impressed by her husband's faithfulness. "Well… okay then…"

Vegeta set Goten down near Trunks and made himself a sandwich. Of course he wasn't about to tell the Woman what happened. She'd scream or something, and besides, there was no need to worry her.

The rest of the evening was spent by Vegeta going over his usual routine: train, eat, contemplate killing that stupid weakling Yamcha, decide the couch is too uncomfortable, and he'd undoubtedly end up there if he did… it was exactly what he expected, just like always.

At about nine p.m., he picked Goten up and carried him outside to fly home. As little as he liked to admit it, the Harpy was ready for him.

**__**

Not romance. Very important. Chi-Chi and Vegeta are not in love and they never will be. Hell, Chi-Chi was about to kill herself to see Kakarot again, who she does love.

This barely qualifies as angsty, and it's probably the most angst-ridden thing I'll ever write.


End file.
